Cecilia Walden Cynthia Zelaya Diana Rodriguez

1. Forest Grove School District: 6,000 students approx. 225 square miles approx. Serving Cornelius, Dilley, Forest Grove and Gales Creek Number of schools: 1 high school (Gr. 9-12) 1 middle school (Gr. 7-8) 1 upper elementary school (two buildings) (Gr. 5-6) 7 elementary schools (Gr. K-4)  1 charter school Student served: 220 students in the Talented and Gifted (TAG) program 772 Special Education students 1,450 students in the English Language Development (ELD) program  Staff: The average Forest Grove School District teacher has 14 years experience 33% of the new teachers hired are bilingual 25% of all staff in the district are bilingual 61% of district teachers and administrators have master's degrees 2% of teachers and administrators have doctorate degrees  Cornelius Elementary Literacy Improvement Plan Cecilia Walden Cynthia Zelaya Diana Rodriguez

2. Demographics • Grades: K-4 • Number of Students: 390 • Free & Reduced: 100% • Special Ed. : 14% • ELL: 62.9% • TAG: 0%

3. School Environment • Average Teacher Experience: 13 years • Teachers with Master’s Degree: 60% • Administrator/Teachers with PhD’s. : 12% • Bilingual Teachers/Specialists : 60% • ESOL endorsed Teacher/Specialists:64% • Reading endorsed Teacher/Specialists: 27% • 1 of 3 elementary schools with a Two-Way Immersion (TWI) program in the FGSD

4. School Environment cont. • Average Class Size • Classes with 20-25 students: 42 % • Classes with 26-30 students: 50% • Classes with more than 30 students: 7% • Only school in the district to wear uniforms.

5. Report Card • Federal AYP – Met • Overall Oregon School Rating – Satisfactory • 2007-08 • 68% of students met standards in Language Arts • 20.9% exceeded standards in reading and writing • 46.8% met standards in reading and writing • 32.3% did not meet standards

6. Report Card cont. • ELL (LEP-Limited English Proficient) • 15% exceeded, 43% met, 42% did not meet standards • Economically disadvantaged • 16% exceeded, 49% met, 35% did not meet • Migrant • 20% exceeded, 45% met, 35% did not meet • Students with disabilities • 3% exceeded, 9% met, 88% did not meet • Boys • 12 % exceeded, 48% met, 40 % did not meet • Girls • 27% exceeded, 46% met, 27% did not meet

7. Achievement Gap TWI Study Meets or Exceeds 3rd 2004-6th 2006

8. Programs • LIFTS • Boys & Girls Club • Weekly 1st grade reading intervention group (2 hours) • Jelly Bean Reading • SMART • Author visits

9. Reading Curriculum-1st Grade English • Harcourt Reading series • Sunshine Books (The Wright Group) – Big and Small series • Rebecca Sitton spelling and reading concepts and strategies • Silent Sustained Reading • Daily writing, plus writers’ workshop with conferencing • Daily computer work (Starfall.com) • Flash cards of sight words, blends, letter sounds, names • Daily Oral Language • Simple, patterned books • Own and other student’s work

10. Reading Curriculum-1st Grade Spanish • Cuentamundos • Harcourt reading series • Estrellitas (blending/sílabas) • El Sabelotodo • Hampton-Brown’s Primer Paso • Reading a-z books online • Fountas and Pinnell leveled guided reading books

11. Assessments • State Testing • Aprenda (3rd grade Spanish writing test) • DRA 2/EDL 2 • Teacher assessments

12. Recommendations for Professional Development • Provide training for teachers on reading interventions/strategies that are helpful for struggling readers and writers. • Training on ESL sheltered instruction strategies for ELL students in mainstream classrooms. (GLAD) • Provide specialists and teachers training and access to other diagnostic testing that will be more specific in indentifying what the student needs. • Clarifying and outlining the role Reading Specialist play in the school. • Training and implementation of dual literacy in the TWI program 2nd grade and above.

13. Recommendations for working with colleagues • Planning lessons together, observing other teachers • Studying and grading student work samples and assessments • Planning across grade level teams in order to prepare students for the following year. Working on literacy plans/goals for students. • Find ways to manage the time of reading specialist, aids, and teachers in order to serve the students who need them the most. This is a school-wide effort. • Develop a literacy team that includes the building administrator, reading specialists, ELD facilitator, Special Ed. Facilitator, and teacher representatives from each grade that can assist in constructing a literacy plan for the school.

14. Recommendations for paraprofessionals • Training on reading strategies to use with students. • Training on reading development and what to look for when students are reading. • Time with teachers to explain their style of instruction and literacy goals for the students. • Advocate for paraprofessionals to spend time at their own school on professional development days.

15. Closing the Achievement Gap • Individualized “Plan for success”. • More intentional about serving students. • Better system of tracking what the school is doing. • Be willing to look at different approaches when commonly utilized programs/interventions are not working. • Have the school district allocate resources for things like all day kinder, smaller class sizes, etc.